Enrico Silvestri (12 May 1896 – 24 June 1977) was an Italian

Alpini The Alpini are the Italian Army's specialist mountain infantry. Part of the army's infantry corps, the speciality distinguished itself in combat during World War I and World War II. Currently the active Alpini units are organized in two operati ...

officer and skier. Silvestri, born in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, was the leader of the military patrol team, which placed 4th at the

1928 Winter Olympics The 1928 Winter Olympics, officially known as the II Olympic Winter Games (; ; ; ) and commonly known as St. Moritz 1928 (; ), were an international winter multi-sport event that was celebrated from 11 to 19 February 1928 in St. Moritz, Swit ...

. In 1934 he was transferred to the new founded

mountain warfare Mountain warfare or alpine warfare is warfare in mountains or similarly rough terrain. The term encompasses military operations affected by the terrain, hazards, and factors of combat and movement through rough terrain, as well as the strategies ...

school of the

Italian Army The Italian Army ( []) is the Army, land force branch of the Italian Armed Forces. The army's history dates back to the Italian unification in the 1850s and 1860s. The army fought in colonial engagements in China and Italo-Turkish War, Libya. It ...

called ''Scuola Militare di Alpinismo'' (today: Centro Addestramento Alpino). At the

Trofeo Mezzalama The Mezzalama Trophy (, , a.k.a. ''white marathon''Carlo Ronc Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to: *Carlo (name) *Monte Carlo *Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia *A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince Char ...

and Attilio Chenoz finished first.Winners of the Trofeo Mezzalama
/ref> In the rank of a capitano he led again the military patrol team at the

1936 Winter Olympics The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936, were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 February 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Nazi Ger ...

, which won the gold medal. In the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

tenente colonnello The Italian Army ranks are the ranks used by the Italian Army, the insignia for which are worn on epaulettes of shirts. Ranks in the Italian Army indicate both their officers' status and seniority, as dedicated members of the Italian militia. As ...

Silvestri joined the

Italian resistance movement The Italian Resistance ( ), or simply ''La'' , consisted of all the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social Republic during the Second World War in Italy ...

and served in the partisan Division Garibaldi, from the middle of January 1944 to the end of 1944 in the 6th S.A.P. brigade, and from January until 7 July 1945 in the 19th Garibaldi brigade " Eusebio Giambone".

Publications

* "Lo sci agonistico: allenamento e gare", Milano, 1943

References and notes

1896 births 1977 deaths Italian military patrol (sport) runners Olympic biathletes for Italy Military patrol competitors at the 1928 Winter Olympics Military patrol competitors at the 1936 Winter Olympics Alpini Italian resistance movement members Skiers from Turin Olympic gold medalists for Italy {{Italy-wintersport-bio-stub